Lookin for New Stuff to Read

[gute]

I am always reading a military book if it be fiction or non-fiction. Any recommendations from the council? I'm always lookin for that obscure book nobody else knows about. I do not care so much for military theory - much more interested in battles, wars, personal experience.

I have read the following (to name a few that might be mentioned a member):

Fields of Fire
With the Old Breed
BHD
Team Yankee
Red Storm Rising
Bravo-Two-Zero
Thunder Run
A Road We Do Not Know
War
Ghost Brigades (SF)
Armor (SF)
Old Man's War (SF)
Starship Troopers (SF)
When the Poor Boys Dance
The Five Fingers
A Gift of Valor
Not A Good Day to Die
Robert's Ridge
Lone Survivor
Black Hearts
Gates of Fire
They Fought for Each Other
The Pacific

[davidbfpo]

Gute,

Try this 2007 thread 'Fiction Reading': http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=1723

There is of course the long running thread 'What are you reading?': http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=3192

I'd add two non-fiction titles: 'Quartered Safe Out There' by George MacDonald Fraser (the 'Flashman' series author), which is an account of his infantry platoon command in Burma and 'With the Jocks' by Peter White, again an infantry platoon commander and in Western Europe 1944-45.

[karaka]

There's the Emberverse series, starting with Dies the Fire, with SM Stirling if you want to get a little more medieval with your science fiction. There's some really engaging warfare in every book.

[cdr]

Perhaps you might like some of these:

The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France 1940, Robert Doughty

Stalking the Vietcong: Inside Operation Phoenix: A Personal Account, by Stuart A. Herrington, originally published as Silence was a Weapon (1982).

On the Road to Stalingrad: Memoirs of a Woman Machine Gunner,Zoya Smirnova-Medvedeva

No Margin For Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force, by Ehud Yonay (1993)

The Operators: On the Streets with Britain's Most Secret Service, by James Rennie, on 14 Company's undercover work in Northern Ireland in the 80's.

One Up: A Woman In Action With The SAS, by Sarah Ford, autobiography
of a woman who served with 14 Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland.

Wasp, Eric Frank Russell (SF, 1971) in which one man is dropped on an alien planet to keep them busy until they swat him.

Sleeping Planet, William R. Burkett (SF, 1965) in which aliens put everyone on earth to sleep except for a handful who conduct psywar ops against them. Fun but can be hard to find.

I won't list Daniel Suarez' recent Daemon and Freedom because they hardly count as obscure.

[SteveMetz]

For military/historical fiction, my heartiest recommendations are for the Bernard Cornwell "Sharpe" series, the Gary Jennings "Aztec" series, and anything by Steven Pressfield.

[bourbon]

I won't list Daniel Suarez' recent Daemon and Freedom because they hardly count as obscure.

I read both Daemon and Freedom(TM) and they were awesome. Captivating stuff, went through both of them in a weekend. They are not completely military fiction books, but there is a lot of relevant stuff in them.

I have been meaning to post something about those books. More detail will have to come later; perhaps a separate thread on them is necessary if others have read the books.

Has anyone else read the Suarez novels?

Steve Metz, you gotta check these out.

[Steve, APH]

If you haven't yet I would recommend Bernard Fall. His books about France's experiences in Indo China are exceptional in my opinion.

My two favorites of his are:

Street Without Joy
Hell in a Very Small Place

They are quick reads, written very well, entertaining, educational and still very relevant.

[William F. Owen]

Try "Blackfoot is Missing." - if you can find an unsigned copy they are worth quite a lot of money!

[Chris jM]

Try "Blackfoot is Missing." - if you can find an unsigned copy they are worth quite a lot of money!

From "Book Worm Daniel" at Amazon book reviews: "William F. Owen ran secert missions in Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War between 1969 and 1971. Blackfoot is Missing is a fictional book based his own experiences during them missions."

"Them missions" are obviously not very "secert" anymore, if the Amazonian reviewers have got hold of your military record!!!

Any of the autobiographical works preserved from the Sir Harry Paget Flashmen, VC, KCB, KCIE, Chevalier, Legion of Honor, US Medal of Honor, San Serafino Order of Purity and Truth (4th Class) papers-series are well worth reading.

Also, a plug for our big brother: http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/201...work-in-progr/

[Culpeper]

Fiction

An Honorable German
http://www.amazon.com/Honorable-Germ...7946886&sr=1-1

Nonfiction

Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII
http://www.amazon.com/Always-Faithfu...7947071&sr=1-1

[gute]

I'm reading a number of books right now including Frontiersman in Blue: The U.S. Army and the Indian 1848-1865 by Robert Utley. Good book, but what I have found most interesting is the similarities of the U.S. Cav and their outposts and missions during this time period to the mission of the Army and USMC in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of considerable interest was the description of the Cav mission (page 110) where soldiers did not march west as conquerers, but to serve as policemen. Obviously the book goes on to describe much more then I am willing to go into here.

[Steve Blair]

I'm reading a number of books right now including Frontiersman in Blue: The U.S. Army and the Indian 1848-1865 by Robert Utley. Good book, but what I have found most interesting is the similarities of the U.S. Cav and their outposts and missions during this time period to the mission of the Army and USMC in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of considerable interest was the description of the Cav mission (page 110) where soldiers did not march west as conquerers, but to serve as policemen. Obviously the book goes on to describe much more then I am willing to go into here.

You'll find even more similarities when you read Utley's second book.